The loss of local news, its impacts and what to do about it

‘America has lost one-third of its newspapers and two-thirds of its newspaper journalists since 2005’, according to a Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism study.    At the current pace, the country is on track to have lost 3,000 newspapers in the last twenty years, with fewer than 6,000 remaining.   Beyond the obvious information vacuum and lost jobs, studies show that the decline in local news leads to increased political polarization, more political corruption, and a greater risk of misinformation filling the void.  To talk about these changes -- and ways we might reverse these trends in New Jersey -- we speak with Chris Daggett from the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium, which provides financial resources for local news and information providers, and Kenny Miles of the Trenton Journal, an independent platform that specifically addresses information gaps and amplifies voices in New Jersey’s capital city. For more info on our guests, their organizations and related efforts:  NJ Civic Information Consortium:  https://njcivicinfo.org Trenton Journal: https://trentonjournal.com State of Local News Study, Northwestern: https://localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu Press Forward: https://www.pressforward.news